The Liberated Past
by The Long Name Ending In Cookie
Summary: From a mysterious egg hatches a previously extinct animal. Bowser tries to control it but gives it too much power and accidentally creates a monster. It escapes, and Mario must face his most deadly enemy ever... Could this be Mario's last adventure?
1. Default Chapter

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST

Part 1: The Beginning

By PinkScyther

DISCLAIMER:  Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Bowser, the Goombas, etc, all are characters belonging to Nintendo.  The dragon is my own invention.

Although I haven't been doing much posting recently, I have actually been working on a few of my stories, a little…  This is the first chapter of my brand new, very first Mario fic.  To everyone that knows who I am already, I'm sorry I almost never post any more, but year nine is turning out to be more work than I thought, and anyway I almost never get online when I have something ready to post.  To the people of a more Mario-ish persuasion, hi.  Nice to meet you.

Okay, please try not to take too much notice of the title but I thought of it at 11:00pm and sadly, I know I won't come up with a better one even after a good night's sleep.  This is a story of a princess's most traditional enemy—a dragon.  When he finds a mysterious egg in a mysterious area permeated with evil, Bowser attempts to use its contents against Mario.  However he inadvertently gives it more power than he can control, and it soon escapes and begins to do things its own way…

Started: 15/09/02

*

_"Once every hundred thousand years or so,_

Where the sun don't shine and the moon don't glow…" —From "Tribute" (Tenacious D) 

There _is _a place that the sun barely shines on, and strangely, the moon doesn't either.  Evil lies without the northern border of the Mushroom Kingdom.  It is a dark place, of portents, such as the fact that the moon is never seen from there.  

It is said that history often repeats itself.  Magic also likes cycles.  And once every hundred thousand years, in this magical area, something strange happens…

A different phenomenon every time.  This time around, it was midnight.  The calendar would have given it to be a full moon, but as usual there was none.  The only sounds in the blackness were the whistling of the wind through the gnarled, dead-looking trees, and the rustling of the grass as it waved.

There was not a cloud in the sky, but suddenly—

KH-KRHHHH 

—there was a mighty flash of lighting, which struck a single, empty point on the ground.  Grass was singed away completely in a shower of sparks, leaving the ground bare.

Lying there was a large, mottled, dull-red, leathery-skinned egg.

~

"Did you hear that?"

Mario rolled over sleepily and saw Luigi staring out his bedroom window.

"Muh…?" he groaned, muffled by the pillow.  He sat up.  "What are you doing in here?"

"Didn't you hear that?" Luigi repeated.

"Hear what?"  Mario rolled over.

"It was a huge thunderclap.  How could you not wake up?"

"Thunder?  There's not a cloud in the sky.  Where did it come from?" Mario was half asleep still, but he sounded vaguely concerned.

"Up north somewhere," was Luigi's reply.

"How far?"

Luigi's brow creased.  "Around the border."  He sounded worried.

Mario was worried too, but he rolled over and closed his eyes.  "It was just a noise.  Maybe there's a perfectly innocent explanation for it, just like there is every time we think something strange is happening on the northern border…" He couldn't see Luigi's face, but he hoped that his brother was convinced.  Mario sure wasn't.

~

"Where did it hit?" 

_"Dunno, over there somewhere…"_

Two raspy voices whispered hurriedly to each other in the darkness outside the northern border.

"It's here, I found it!" 

_"What is it?"_

_"_I _don't know!"_

_"It's too big, what do we do with it?"_

_"We've gotta get it to King Bowser!"_

_"How?"_

_"Go get King Bowser!"_

_"Go GET him?!  Are you crazy?"_

_"Just do it!"_

_"Why don't you?"_

_"No, I gotta stay here to watch the thing!"_

The argument was interrupted by a snort from somewhere in the darkness.

_"Goombas," _it grunted derisively.  _"I don't know why he keeps you around."_

The two goombas jumped.  

_"What the—_you_!  What are YOU doing here?"_

The figure in the darkness sniggered.  _"Bowser sent me.  I guess he didn't think you two numbskulls could cope out here on your own."_

The goombas bristled.  _"Oh yeah?  Well—"_

The invisible speaker ignored them and made a signal.  From above their heads two shapes with large, feathery wings flapped to the ground.  

One of the goombas narrowed his eyes.  _"Para-koopas?  How many of those did you bring?" _ He sounded offended.

The figure in the shadows laughed without humour as the two para-koopas picked up the egg and rose into the air again.  _"Come on.  You know King Bowser doesn't like being kept waiting."_

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 21/09/02

I know, it's a bit short, but the next part won't be long in coming—I promise.  However no promises on how long it will take for me to be able to post it… or if the Mario section with even still be there.  If sections keep being removed from this site, eventually they'll find it easier to just say "Sorry, no fanfiction allowed on this site anymore.  Have a nice day."  Anywho, I would really like some reviews.  I'm an emotionally dependent person; I need positive reinforcement from people!  Please, tell me I'm good…  (I'm kidding—you knew that right?)


	2. Dark Fire

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST 

Part 2: Black Fire

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER:  The only character I own is my dragon.  I don't own the places or things or whatever.

I did promise that this chapter wouldn't be long in coming.  It may take me longer than I expected though, because my parents aren't home and my sister is trying to make lunch, using her home economics book.  She already set the paper towel in the microwave on fire.  Luckily the potato fell on the flames and smothered them.  -_-'

Anyway: chapter two.  What is King Bowser going to do with the egg?

Started: 25/09/02

*

A single flickering torch provided the only light in the dank abandoned dungeon.  

Abandoned, that is, until now.

One of Bowser's koopas unlocked the bars and backed away, radiating servility.  The two goombas who had discovered the egg stood at the edge of the torchlight, in awed and slightly frightened silence.

Two glowing yellow eyes became apparent in the gloom, followed by the rest of their body.  King Bowser stepped into the dim circle of torchlight, wearing a grim smile.

"Give it to me."

The two para-koopas with the egg stepped forward and passed it up cautiously.  Bowser took it and placed it in the cell.  The draft created by his passing stirred the torch flame, sending eerily flickering shadows across the dripping stone walls. 

Bowser stepped back, but did not close the bars.  He turned to an indistinct figure in the shadows.

"You know what this is."  It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes sire," it replied hurriedly.  The two goombas recognised its voice as the one they had heard in the clearing.  The figure opened a large book, and blew a cloud of dust off one of the pages.  "It's most definitely a—"

"Herman," Bowser interrupted sharply.  "I know what it is."

Herman snapped the book shut hastily.  "What are you going to do with it, sire?"

King Bowser turned back to the egg.  "Keep it."

Herman seemed about to object, but thought the better of it.  Bowser sighed.  Cruel and heartless he may be, but it just seemed _wrong _to leave an egg to get cold.  It was probably the fact that he himself had hatched from one.

"_Hrrrr!_"  Bowser huffed a gentle blast of fire onto the egg.  It glowed with the heat for a second, and then cooled.

The goombas, the para-koopas and the koopa exchanged nervous glances.  They didn't like what was going on.  As far as they could make out, there was trouble.  Before they could do anything else, Bowser rounded on them.

"Don't you have something else you should be doing?" he snarled.  They all jumped, and scurried out.

King Bowser turned back to Herman.  "What are you going to do when it hatches…?" asked Herman.

A calculating look passed across Bowser's face.  Slowly, he smiled a little, enough to show his frighteningly sharp teeth.  "Did you know that these things are my ancient ancestors?"

"Well, no…" Herman wondered where this was leading.

Bowser nodded.  "Of course, they're extinct now.  The closest living relatives they have are Yoshies.  There are no others like me… I'm the result of the cross between koopas and dragons."

At the word "dragons" Herman glanced around the cell; he couldn't shake the feeling of a presence, of someone listening to their conversation.  But the only other occupant of the dungeon was the egg.

The egg…

King Bowser was watching it too.  Silent cracks were spreading across the leathery shell.  The egg began to make cracking sounds, and through a large slit scaly red skin was visible for a moment.  Without warning the split lengthened and the entire egg broke open.  

Crawling out from among the shards was what looked like a red lizard, covered in egg slime.  It stretched, and two wings unfurled from its back.  They were delicate green skin ribbed by red spines.  On its back were a few faint purple stripes.

The baby dragon turned to look at Bowser.  It had comically large ears and tiny horn stubs.  Its eyes were large, intelligent and orange.

Bowser took a small bag from Herman.  He opened it; Herman felt it to be rather an anticlimax when it turned out to contain some harmless mushrooms, although he didn't really know what he had expected.

Bowser took some of the mushrooms and threw them to the baby.  It sniffed them momentarily then ate them.  Bowser took a few more and ate them himself as the baby dragon curled up and went to sleep.

"Uh, sire…" Herman said quietly.  "You were about to say what you would do now…?"

"Oh, yeah.  Well, it must say somewhere in that book about how powerful dragons are."

"Yes…"

"When this one is full grown, he will have strength greater even than mine.  I'd like to see that little runt Mario against that kind of power!"  Bowser laughed.

"But sire, it says here that dragons are peaceful…"

Bowser sighed heavily.  "Really Herman, I thought you remembered your old cell…"

Bowser couldn't see him, but he knew from the silence that his words had had the desired effect on Herman.  In the darkness, his eyes widened.  Memories played across his mind.

King Bowser's flying island landing in the peaceful village…  The townspeople's screams of terror… and him, foolishly sneaking into the castle…  Bowser's guards had caught him…

_And then, the single most terrifying moment of his life; he heard breathing, could feel a presence behind him, and he had turned, and looked straight into the cold, unforgiving eyes of King Bowser himself…_

_He'd been thrown into the cell known as the Dark Dungeon… he could remember sitting in the blackness, as the days passed unheeded and time became meaningless, all the while he could feel himself slowly weakening, succumbing to the dark energy, until the evil had finally taken him over…_

Herman shook himself and tuned back into the present.  

"You're going to…  to turn it…?"

Bowser grinned.  "The Dark Dungeon will put him on our side, and then…  we'll give Mario a nice surprise."

They both turned to look at the sleeping dragon, Bowser's eyes shining with anticipation, Herman's with stunned apprehension.

~

Months later… 

~

Mario lay in his back yard, asleep in the bright sunshine.  It was late afternoon; a fairly routine one—bees buzzing, birds singing, Luigi watering the flowers.  He didn't even notice the shadow that passed over his face.

He didn't hear Luigi yelling for him to wake up either; but he woke up when Luigi emptied the watering can over him.

"What?  What is it?" he said, trying to shake the water off.

"Look over there," Luigi said, pointing.

Mario turned his gaze in the general direction Luigi was pointing, and saw a spire of smoke rising from a spot in Toad Town.  

"It's a fire—" he squinted "—Toad's house is on fire!"

"Let's go down there," said Luigi, but Mario barred his way.  

"Wait, look over there."  He pointed at the firehouse.  Smoke had begun to spiral up from it.

"The firehouse is burning?  It looks like somebody doesn't want us to be able to put out the fire," Luigi said, as calmly as he could.  

"And that they know what they're doing," added Mario.  "We'd better go down there."

The brothers began to run down the gentle slope of the hillock they lived on.  Luigi overtook Mario easily, being a faster runner, but they both slowed down to watch as two distant shapes rose into the sky over the town.

"They're sending the mail-carrier para-koopas out," Mario remarked.

"They'll be going to the nearest town to get help," Luigi replied.  But even as they watched, another shape appeared overhead and flew towards the para-koopas.

It was a fair bit larger than the koopas, and a completely different shape.

"What is that?!" cried Luigi.

"Whatever it is, I don't like the look of it," panted Mario.  As they reached Toad Town, the para-koopas turned and noticed their pursuer.  They panicked, flapping erratically in fruitless attempts to gain more speed.  The great flying shape dove at them and scattered them, then in one graceful movement, it turned as if swimming in the air and _WHOOMPH.  _It spurted a neat column of flame that was wide enough to hit both of the koopas at once.  With shrill cries the two para-koopas retracted their heads into their blackened shells.  Their wings had been seared off and they plummeted to the ground.  The flying monster was nowhere to be seen.

By this time, Mario and Luigi had stopped dead in horror.  They were jerked from their mortified stupor by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Mario!  Maaaaario!  Luigiiiii!"  

They turned to see a sweating, soot-blackened Toad running towards them.  He was carrying something.

"Toad!  What happened?  How did the fires start?" asked Mario, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, Mario," he sobbed, tears making tracks through the ash on his face.  "The flying reptile set fire to my house.  I got out, but Reggie is still in there!  And the firehouse is on fire, and the para-koopas—"

Luigi grabbed his desperately waving arms.  "Calm down Toad, we can help.  Are you sure Reggie is still in the house?"  Reggie was one of Toad's best friends, and one of the many Toad's in the Mushroom Kingdom.  His mushroom hat was green and he wore a yellow jacket (which complemented the colour of the mushroom nicely).

"Yes," Toad wailed.  Mario and Luigi exchanged a knowing glance.  Time to do what they did best: save lives.  

"Luigi, you take the fire station.  I'll get Reggie," said Mario briskly.  Luigi nodded.

As they turned to leave, Toad stopped them.  "Wait!  I brought something you might need."

In his hands he held two caps, not dissimilar to the ones the Mario brothers wore, except that one was made of metal and the other was blue and barely visible.

"The Metal Cap and the Invisible Cap," he said, holding them out.  Mario picked up the Metal Cap while Luigi preferred the almost insubstantial Invisible Cap.  With a word of good luck to each other they split up and went their separate ways.

Mario's boots pounded on the hard ground, which even through them felt warmer already.  He could smell the acrid smoke and as he rounded a corner the heat and sound hit him like a tidal wave.  

Toad's house was blazing wickedly fast.  The heat was already barely bearable, and the yells and cries of the townspeople trying to put out the fire with buckets of water were ear splittingly loud.

Without another thought Mario whipped off his red hat and put on the Metal Cap.  Immediately his entire body turned into metal and before he could begin to feel afraid he dashed into the flames.

Mario could hear the cries of surprise from the Toad's outside, but the cracking and snapping sounds as the old timber of Toad's house burnt muffled them.  He stopped to get his bearings and despite the intense heat he shivered.  No matter how often he used the Metal Cap, Mario felt he would always find the idea of stepping into fire terrifying.  The flames had no effect on the metal of course, but Mario could still feel the heat and it was uncomfortable.  Being a hero, he mused bitterly, doesn't mean that you aren't afraid of things; it just means you do them despite the fear.

At that moment, he caught a sound on the edge of hearing.  It came from upstairs.  Mario turned and ran towards the staircase.  The bottom half of it had caught fire.  He leapt through the flames and clanked up the stairs.  

At the top of the staircase he stopped, and reminded himself he didn't need to catch his breath: being metal means you don't have to breathe.  He set off again, straining his ears against the sounds of tortured wood.  This time he heard actual words.

"Hello?  Anyone?  Please help me!" There came a cough.  "I can't get the window open…" The voice was polite and slightly apologetic; as if it's owner wished to convey that nobody need rush to his aid, whenever they had the time would be fine.

"Reggie," Mario muttered.  His voice had a metallic edge to it and his lips clanged when they met.  He kicked open a door that had not yet been ravaged by the inferno.

Inside, cowering on a shelf above a small bed was a Toad.  His mushroom hat was slightly charred but still noticeably green and white.  He wore a smoke-blackened yellow jacket.

"Reggie!" Mario repeated.  He wished fervently his lips wouldn't clank.

Reggie's eyes widened, but then shut again as he coughed.  "Muh-_Mario_?"  

Mario strode over to the shelf and picked up Reggie.  He was quite light.  

"_Metal _Mario?" the little mushroom head breathed.  

"That's right," replied Mario, in a voice that sounded like a tin can if it could talk (and had an Italian accent).

"I'm being rescued by Mario!" squeaked Reggie in awe, as he was carried back to the stairs.  He coughed again.

Mario tore a piece of wallpaper from the wall and handed it to Reggie.  "Wear it over your face so you don't breath the smoke."  He then turned and ran down the stairs. 

Halfway down, he leapt back a split second before a burning piece of timber broke away from the ceiling and smashed a hole in the steps.  Mario could see that the rest of the stairs were ablaze.  He hesitated.  His options lay thus: either he could go back upstairs and break a window to get out, or he could risk jumping the flames and going through the door.

The moment he spent in contemplation cost him dearly, because suddenly a second burning beam parted company with the ceiling and landed on him.  Mario fell forward and cried out as he lost hold of Reggie.

He rolled down the stairs, which could no longer take the weight and shattered.  Mario landed on the floor.  He lay there, stunned.  Then he flickered, like a badly tuned TV.

The Metal Cap's power was running out…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 22/10/02

Ooh, already some suspense.  Sorry about the wait, it was a bit longer than I anticipated.  Well, for those of you who wondered about the figure in the shadows: ha ha!  All I've said so far is that his name is Herman.  You'll be guessing about that for a while.  

Also, you may have noticed that Mario and Luigi don't speak with accents, the reason being I can't write them.  So you'll need to use your imagination.  Also, most of the topography in the story is taken from Paper Mario.  And about Reggie: he's a character my sister and I came up with many years ago (this is a different sister, not the one who set the microwave on fire).  I think there's a similar character has appeared as part of Nintendo's official cast but Reggie is mine.  All mine.  

Well, bye everyone, and please review.  You're all such wonderful readers when you review.  Oh hell, you're wonderful when you don't.


	3. Fight And Flight

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST Part Three: Fight And Flight 

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mario, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, etc.  I half-own Reggie and Herman.  I fully own the dragon (if he had a name it would be Barney—but **not** because he is in any way related to Barney the purple dinosaur).

Hi everyone, it's me again, taking up your valuable time when you could be reading my story.  I want to say that I'm sorry for how the last two chapters appeared aesthetically; I save my files as HTML and they look okay on my computer but when I upload them half the italicised words aren't italicised at all, and some of the centred words are left-justified.  So, blame ff.net.   

In this exciting chapter, we find out what happens to Mario in the fire.  Luigi gets a chance at being the hero, and Herman is a bit sneaky…

Started: 23/10/02

*

Luigi sprinted toward the firehouse.  His heart was racing.  He felt the shot of adrenaline that comes with fear—no, with terror.

The flames and smoke were visible many streets away, and the sight that Luigi now came face-to-face with would have inspired fear in a fire hose.

Like most of the buildings in Toad Town, the firehouse was constructed mainly of wood.  Bricks were hard to come by, because the clay needed to make them was not found in any area within many kilometres of Toad Town.  Only the richer Toads could afford them, and Princess Peach of course.

Now the fire brigade clustered around the blazing building and attempted vainly to control the fire.  The fire engine was still in the building, so the fire brigade Toads had only half their usual fire-fighting abilities.

Luigi took a deep breath and strode towards the building, sweating.  He could feel the stares of the Toads.  He gulped.

How does Mario do it? he wondered.  Luigi was nervous; he felt like he was going to pass out.  

He just walks into a situation without breaking a sweat and everyone thinks Wow, Mario, how cool is he?  I must look like such an idiot.

Luigi approached the fire chief.  "Is there anything I can do to help?" 

The chief, who wore a fire helmet on top of his mushroom hat, looked up at Luigi.  "You can't go in there," he said.  "We would probably be able to get it under control, except the truck is in there.  If the flames reach the petrol tank, you can say goodbye to this whole street!"

Luigi gulped again, but took off his hat and handed it to the chief.  "What else is in there that you need, apart from the truck?"

"If someone could only turn on the overhead sprinklers," the chief replied.  "They were only installed yesterday and they're supposed to be heat sensitive, but right now they still have to be activated manually…  Wait!" he cried as Luigi turned and made for the building.  "You can't go in there!  There's nothing you can do!"

Luigi turned around.  "Where is the switch for the sprinklers?"

The chief sagged.  There was no time for arguing.  "The wall opposite the entrance."

Luigi nodded, and put on the Invisible Cap.  Immediately the chief lost sight of him, but if he looked hard in the place Luigi had been standing, he could just make out a faint green and blue blur.

Invisible Luigi walked into the flames, shutting his eyes and trying to hold his breath, but like the Metal Cap the Invisible Cap relieved its wearer of the need to breathe.  When no sensation of being burned alive was felt, he opened his eyes.

He cast his gaze around and spotted the switch.  He dashed over to it, then stopped in front of it.  

Intense concentration was required to manipulate objects when you were Invisible.  Luigi focused his mind, and carefully grasped the lever.  Ghostly beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he slowly pulled it down.  

Immediately, water began spraying from the ceiling.  Luigi checked a few other rooms; they were all being watered.  Clouds of smoke rose from the ground as the water put out the fire.

Luigi dashed through a solid wall into the garage where the fire truck was kept.  Water was pouring from the ceiling in there as well.  He whipped the Invisible Cap off of his head and climbed into the truck.  There were no keys but that had never been a problem for either of the Mario brothers; Luigi hot-wired it and drove it out of the firehouse.

As he pulled out of the garage amid cheers from the fire fighters and the gathering crowd, Luigi saw a column of smoke rising from another part of town.  It jolted him out of his happy relief of being out of the fire.

The chief clambered up to the drivers' side window.  "You did it!" he exclaimed happily, his big grey moustache twitching excitedly, and handed back Luigi's hat.

"Toad's house is still burning!" Luigi exclaimed.  "Mario might still be in there."  The chief stopped grinning, and got into the truck, taking over the driving.  He called to the rest of the fire fighters and they piled into the fire truck.  The chief took off wildly and sped towards Toad's house.

As he screeched to a halt, Luigi was already leaping out of the truck, jamming the Invisible Cap back on.  Ignoring surprised yells he ran towards Toad's house.

Mario and Luigi would have been twins, except for a mix-up with the stork involving Kamek the evil magi-koopa and Baby Bowser.  If it hadn't been for Yoshi Luigi might never have been born.  As it were, things were resolved eventually and Mario and Luigi were brothers, except that Luigi was a few years younger than Mario.  But even so, they were twins at heart and could tell instinctively when the other was in danger.  Now, Luigi didn't need to look at the crowd to know that Mario was not in it.  He strode towards Toad's house without a trace of his previous fear.  The only thing that mattered now was his brother's safety.

Luigi stepped through the door and peered through the tongues of fire.  Mario was nowhere to be seen.  He felt a surge of panic, but fought it back down and forced himself to go further into the house.  

His focus landed on the smashed-in stairs.  Luigi ran towards them and peered in among the rubble.  Mario lay on the floor under a burnt piece of wood, unconscious from the smoke.  Reggie lay a few feet away, also overcome by smoke inhalation.  

Luigi took off the Invisible Cap, and saw the Metal Cap lying on the floor.  He grabbed it and put it on, but it needed time to recharge its power.  He put the Invisible Cap on Mario but it also had no effect.  It had run out too.  

With a surge of superhuman strength, he picked up both Mario and Reggie and slung them over his shoulders.  Luigi turned awkwardly, coughing, and ran for the door.  He dodged flames and leapt out of the way as yet another burning plank of wood fell from the roof.  It landed in a shower of sparks as Luigi reached the apex of his leap, and then he landed and fell.  

Luigi stood up, suddenly feeling drained and weary.  But he forced himself to grab Mario and Reggie's collars, and dragged them through the doorway, out into the open.

The cheering hit him like a tsunami and Luigi had only a second to blink and try to figure out what was going on, when he was lifted from his feet by the crowd of villagers and bore away on a sea of variously coloured mushrooms.

Through clouds of exhaustion Luigi smiled, and by the time he had managed to stop crowd surfing, the fire fighters had almost put out the flames and Mario and Reggie had been revived and were running towards him.

"Mario!  Are you alright?"

"Of course I am Luigi, you saved us both," Mario cried and hugged his brother.

Toad ran out of the crowd to hug Reggie and then they both said, "Luigi is a hero!  Three cheers everyone!"  

The crowd cheered again and Luigi blushed and scuffed the ground shyly.  Mario grinned at him.

"I'm not a hero," he muttered.  "Anyone would have done just the same thing—you do it all the time, Mario."

"Maybe, but _you_ were the only one who did," replied Mario.

Luigi was about to argue, when something caught his mind.  "There's something I don't understand," he said, his expression darkening.  "Where did that thing that started these fires go?"

Mario's grin faded.  "I have no idea.  But something tells me we'd better find out soon."

~

Down in the Dark Dungeon, Bowser was having his own problems.  He strained to hold the cell door closed, digging his feet into the ground and gritting his teeth, but the dragon was giving him a hard time.

It stampeded around in the cell, snorting wildly and breathing the occasional furious burst of flame.  It reared up and rolled its eyes, looking like a spooked horse.  

_"Whooooooooooaaaaaaaahr!  Whooooooor!!!"_

The dragon had grown in the past months until it was larger than Bowser.  Now it was not even full-grown, but already more than he could handle on his own.

"Don't just stand there!" Bowser roared.  The torchlight was flickering crazily as a result of the dragon's wild thrashing, and the eerie, dancing light threw King Bowsers face into sharp relief.  He looked so menacing that Herman jumped and ran over to help, along with an assortment of koopas and goombas.  They strained against the cell door with Bowser while Herman slid home the bolts and locked it.  

The dragon stopped rampaging and turned to face the bars.  Its head scraped the ceiling.  It puffed out its chest.

The dragon was a proud and regal looking beast.   It stood tall on four clawed feet, and when its mighty wings where open they revealed themselves to be a dazzling green colour, and there were four vivid purple stripes on its back.  It had a refined, vaguely equine head with two strong horns and a pair of sensitive ears.  Two delicate, green, antennae-like appendages overhung its face and its eyes were sparkling orange and intelligent.

It was a shame to keep such a fine animal locked away, but Bowser could see that while the dark power was definitely gaining control, the dragon did not like it and often had these manic episodes where it became angry and upset, and confusedly tried to escape.

Now, the dragon faced the bars and spewed an enormous flame that engulfed most of the dungeon.  The koopas, goombas and Herman dived for cover, while Bowser withdrew into his great spiked shell.

The bars glowed white hot, then cooled slowly to red heat, and eventually became their regular colour.  Bowser climbed out of his shell and looked up cautiously.  The dragon was narrowing its eyes with a calculating anger at the bars.

"Quick you fools!" he roared.  "I want this dungeon reinforced; these bars plated over with the strongest, most heat-resistant metal alloy you can find!  And I want it done before sunset!"

~

A month or two later… 

~

Mario and Luigi sat at one end of a long dining table with Peach.  She had invited them over for a talk.  

Peach was a little embarrassed about the table; her parents had bought it because it was traditional that royalty had really long tables.  It was useful for big formal banquets but she felt silly using it when there were only three sitting at it.

"There have been more unexplained fires this month," Peach said worriedly, drinking her weak tea.  Her voice echoed around the vast, empty dining hall.

"We heard," nodded Mario gravely, spooning a heap of sugar into his black tea.  "Has anyone been hurt?"

Peach nodded sadly.  "There have been a few casualties, and many near-fatalities."  She took another sip of tea.  "Does anybody have an idea as to what might be causing them?"

Luigi put down his white tea.  "A lot of the townspeople say they've seen a flying reptile that breathes the fire."  He gave her a meaningful look.  "They won't be told otherwise."

Peach sighed.  "I know.  I cannot go on trying to deny it.  Do you know what it is?"

Mario nodded to Luigi, who produced a heavy, leather-bound old book.  He opened it and blew some dust off the page.  

"There is a passage in here that fits the descriptions we're getting perfectly."  Peach noted the name embossed in gold on the spine.  _Dragonlore._

Luigi began to read aloud.

"The dragon be-eth an fearsome beast, having the wings of a bat, the body of a lizard, the head of a horse, the tail of a demon and a belly full of fire.  It hath no vice nor weakness, its scales an impenetrable fortress, so hard they be.  Yet considereth not the dragon a foe; for be it not an untameable beast but an wise and gentle creature of noble bearing."

Luigi closed the ancient book with a snap.

"Where did you find this book?" Peach asked.

"It was in your own library," Luigi replied.  "I searched for hours in there."

Peach looked embarrassed and twisted her hands in her lap.  "Well, I don't often go down there, I—"

"Don't worry about it," said Mario quickly.  "I wouldn't have the patience to look all the way through that library either."

"I feel rather guilty really, my ancestors always worked so hard on that library—oh, I'm sorry, I do digress don't I?"  Peach became serious again.  "What I cannot understand is why, if dragons are gentle and do not usually bother people, this one has suddenly appeared and begun to attack our villages?"

"What I would rather know is, why is there suddenly a dragon attacking us when they have been extinct for so long?" replied Luigi.

In the silence that followed, Mario's mind raced.  Just the thought of dragons made him jumpy, yet Luigi and Peach had accepted it already and were trying to discuss it rationally.

How does Luigi do it, Mario wondered.  He gets faced with a problem so he accepts that something is wrong and tries to find out about it.  All I do is rush in like a fool and hope things turn out for the best.  I'm not a hero; I'm just lucky.  I must look like an idiot, he thought.

~

Herman sneaked downstairs cautiously, peering over his shoulder nervously in case Bowser were to miss him.  

He tripped and fell down the last few steps, the flaming torch he was holding rolling away.  Herman held his breath; but luckily the torch didn't go out.  He sighed with relief and picked himself up.  He grabbed the torch and continued along his way.

He shivered; the dungeons were damp and cold.  And empty.

Herman could only remember one time when he had felt more alone—his time in the Dark Dungeon.  He shuddered; the memories would haunt him to the day he died.  He still woke up screaming sometimes.

Occasionally he would wake up screaming, and then scream more when he realised he hadn't been asleep…

Herman reached the Dark Dungeon.  The cell where the dragon was kept had been plated over with plates of a strong metal alloy, leaving only a small gap through which the wretched creature peered out mournfully.

It heard Herman coming and leapt up to the bars, straining against them so hard Herman was afraid it would injure itself.  The dragon began to snort and moan.  Herman shushed it hurriedly and threw some food through a gap.  He heard heavy footsteps as the dragon chased it down and ate it half-heartedly.

Herman put the torch in a bracket on the wall and rubbed his forehead.  He knew he was evil (no-one could have spent that long in the Dark Dungeon and not be, he thought bitterly).  Bowser made sure he knew.  He made sure that not a moment went past when Herman was not reminded that his would was now as irreparably black as any of Bowser's minions; nearly as bad as Bowser himself.

But no matter how resignedly black-hearted he was, Herman was hell-bent on doing one thing that he thought was right.  Just looking at the poor dragon; angry, upset, mixed-up and confused as it was made Herman feel strangely like crying, but he had long ago conditioned himself to doing anything but.  There was only one thing he could do that would possibly let out these feelings now.

Herman took a ring of keys from under his jacket and slid them into the lock on the cell door.  He slid back the bolts one by one, and then gently turned the key.

At the tiny sound of the click, the dragon's ears shot up.  It stood up quickly and lunged at the door, which swung open with such a force that it hit Herman and he was thrown across the dungeon.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 24/10/02

Oh boy, another cliffhanger!  And wow, am I ever writing this fast!

Now, one kind person mentioned to me that there was an error in my writing: the things I call para-koopas should allegedly be called para-troopers.  Well, I think that yes, they originally may have had that name.  I can't check my Super Mario All Stars instruction book because my sisters ruined it, but I will go and check some end credits on my trusty Super NES later.  But as far as I remember, if you refer back to my source Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, Level One, World Two, the level is named "Visit Koopa and **Para-Koopa**".  So, whatever you want to call it, I still say that the winged koopas are called para-koopas.

Anywho.  Notice that still I haven't said what species Herman is?  Oh, the suspense must be killing you!  And what did y'all think of the "I must look like such and idiot" thought sequences?  I thought that was kinda cool.  And also, about the Dragonlore section—it didn't sound to cheesy or corny did it?  I wanted a sort of medieval feel.

Anyway, goodnight everyone, and please review, otherwise how will you answer my questions?


	4. The Definition Of Trouble

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST 

Part Four: The Definition Of Trouble

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Mario, Luigi, Peach, Bowser, blah blah, etc.  I own Herman, although I don't own his species.  I own the dragon.  Although, come to think of it, I don't own its species either… who did come up with the concept of dragons???

Thankyou for all your positive reviews everyone!  With your help I have established that my Dragonlore section was a bit cheesy.  I think this is because my main influence in writing is Terry Pratchett and he does do bits like that in some of his books, but because he writes humour they are supposed to be cheesy and funny, so I've done my best.  Also I have had another thought on the para-koopas/para-troopers issue: what about those little flying things with capes on Super Mario World?  They look like koopas without shells.  Are they the ones called para-troopers I wonder?  Oh well.  

Anyway, this is chapter four, in which a dragon has been set loose in the Mushroom Kingdom…

Started: 25/10/02

*

King Bowser sat snoring on is throne.  A sudden booming thump shook the entire castle.  Goombas, koopas and bob-ombs all over the building cried out in fright.  

Bowser woke with a start and peered around sleepily, trying to figure out what had caused him to wake.  No more thumps came, although there was a flurry of activity among his servants.  I'll be damned, he though, they look like they're actually working hard for once.

Bowser yawned.  "I think it's time to give our little friend some exercise," he said to Herman.  There was no reply.  He looked around and realised that his confident was missing.  Normally he would say something like "But sire, is that a good idea?  I mean, you know the trouble you always have now getting him back in his cell…"

Bowser knew Herman was afraid the dragon would escape.  He was always begging that they use it to defeat Mario and then get rid of it, before something happened.

But Bowser wanted to make sure that there was absolutely no chance of failure.  He had been sending the dragon out ever since it could fly, training it and building up its strength, getting it to set fire to things.  

Bowser grinned evilly.  The morale of the townspeople had fallen to an all-time low.  He loved seeing the results: the uncertainty, the constant fear of attack.  The Toads no longer felt safe to leave their homes for fear of coming back to find it burnt to the ground, but they were afraid to stay in them for fear of being burnt alive.

I wonder how Mario's reacting to that, he though with evil glee.  In a good humour Bowser got up, called for Herman and set out for the dungeons.  

~

In the Dark Dungeon, Herman returned to consciousness to see the dragon's tail disappearing around a corner.  He scrambled to his feet and stumbled after it, but stopped dead when he heard Bowser call his name.  Then there was more silence, and Herman waited with baited breath.

There came a fearsome roar and Herman knew Bowser had met the dragon.  It was followed by the dragon's bellow.

Bowser roared again and Herman cringed, wondering what was happening.  There was another cry from the dragon; not a scream of fear this time but a terrifying roar of rage and frustration that sent shivers up Herman's spine and caused him to whimper in fright.

He could stand it no more.  Herman's curiosity overcame him and he sprinted up the dark corridor, dreading what he might see, towards Bowser and the dragon.

~

Mario and Peach's eyes flicked back and forth, watching Luigi.  He was pacing agitatedly, searching through the pages of the book.  It was a slow process because flipping one too hard would not only tear the page but probably cause part of it to disintegrate.

"Here's something," he said so suddenly that Peach and Mario jumped.  Mario slipped out of his seat and fell on the floor.  He jumped up so suddenly that he knocked the chair over and had to pick it up again.  By the time he managed to sit down he was as red as his hat with embarrassment.  He avoided looking at Peach.

Luigi barely seemed to notice.  _"Because of this, the noble Dragon, king of all beasts, is also the rarest among them."_

"Because of what?  That doesn't tell us anything!" said Mario exasperatedly.

"It tells us that when this book was written dragons were already nearly extinct.  So how did this one cross that time barrier?"

"What does it say before that, Luigi?" asked Peach.

Luigi's lips moved silently as he read, and then he blanched slightly.

Peach's brow furrowed.  Mario couldn't stop himself noticing how delicately she managed to pull off the expression.

Wordlessly, Luigi put the book on the table and pushed it towards her.  Peach read it with a worried expression.

The dragon cometh not into presence of man; unless it believes there to be trouble.  They are spoken of in renown in the instance of civil unrest or disturbances without, for when he senseth trouble the dragon doth bear away the most treasured maiden in the kingdom.  But fair princesses should worry not, for no harm will come to them under the dragon's care.  Many a knight hath fallen under the dragon's protective wrath before he is slain.

Peach sat back and bumped into Mario, who had been leaning over her shoulder.  She blushed but quickly her thoughts returned to the matter in hand.

"This means that you are in the most danger, Peach," Mario said gently.  

"Danger?" she replied, and stood up.  "Danger?" she repeated, louder.  "Mario, I am not afraid for my safety!  Did you not read the book?  If the dragon were to kidnap me I would be safer than I have ever been!  It is the people out there I fear for!"  She swept her arm towards the town in an expansive gesture.  "If this dragon only would take me, and leave the rest of the kingdom be, I would rest easy!  But I cannot fear for myself, when already my people have been attacked!  So who do you think is in most danger?"

Peach's chest heaved with emotion.  She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked Mario in the eyes.

He looked more than a little hurt, and puzzled by Peach's reaction.  Her anger melted away at once and she swept over to Mario and hugged him.

"Oh, sweet Mario, I am sorry!  I know you only want to protect me, and you have always done so very well!"

"It's alright, I understand what you meant," Mario mumbled awkwardly.

There was a moment of silence, then Luigi coughed.  Mario and Peach snapped out of it, and moved apart.  There was a lot of embarrassed shuffling and sideways glances.

"You have also protected me Luigi," Peach said hastily.

Luigi scuffed at the ground with his foot, his trademark gesture whenever he received a compliment.

"Well, anyway, what do you propose we do, Princess?" he said.

~

"How did this happen?!" growled Bowser angrily.  Herman watched in horror as the dragon reared up on its hind legs and forced Bowser away.  It was wailing and roaring like he had never heard before.

_"WHOOO-AAAAAAAAAR!  WHOOOOOAAAAAAHHHRGH!  WAAAARGGGH!!!"_

The last cry sounded like the roar of a bear, a bear that was twice as tall as Bowser and had a belly full of fire and a heart full of confused, mixed up emotions that felt as if a band of tiny men were stamping on it and tearing it and wrenching it apart from the inside.

_"GRAAAAAAAARGH!"_

Bowser also roared, sounding like a giant lion which had also a belly full of fire, and had just been confronted with a problem so terrifying that the terror was unable to be contained within one being and so was diffused into smaller emotions, like anger.

The dragon tried to shoulder past Bowser, but he turned and presented the spikes on his shell, and there came a clattering as the dragon's metallic scales scraped against them and got tangled.

In the confusion Herman dodged past the two of them without being seen and ran away up the passage.

The dragon bucked and tore itself free of Bowser's spines.  Bowser snarled and grabbed its tail to stop it escaping, but the dragon turned and drew breath.

Bowser knew what was about to happen.  Within a split second he had let go of the dragon's tail and withdrawn into his shell.  There was a mighty rushing sound and a moment of intense heat as the gust of fire passed overhead.  Then the clicking of claws against stone, which was the only noise made as the dragon galloped away.

Bowser got to his feet.  "HERMAN!" he screamed.

Herman was leaning against the wall, trying to get over the near heart attack he had suffered when the dragon ran past him without warning.  Bowser's yell also nearly caused him heart failure.  He sighed heavily and dashed back down the passage to where Bowser stood.

"Where were you?" he asked, dangerously calm.

"I—I was upstairs, sire, a-a-and I came down to see if you were awake, b-but you were gone, and then I heard noise from down here, so I came to see what was happening, and then you called… me…" Herman's words died in his throat as Bowser produced something from behind his back and dangled it in front of his eyes.

It was the torch that Herman had been using.  His eyes widened, and he looked up at Bowser, somehow more terrified than he had been before.

Bowser's face split into an angry sneer and he bared his teeth.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 25/10/02

Ooh, this is fanfiction GOLD!  Still no word on Herman's species.  Did you notice the hint of Mario/Peach romance in there?  I'm not usually into that sort of thing, I absolutely loooove paring up obvious couples with other characters, but they are just so cute!

Please, could I have some feedback on my skills at creating suspense?  I'm always open to suggestions for my improvement.  And if there's anything you'd particularly like to see in this story, you only have to ask and I'll see if I can work it in somehow.  Okay, bye bye everyone.


	5. Good, Evil, And The Horror That Comes Be...

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST

Part Five: Good, Evil, And The Horror That Comes Between

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: I own only what I think I own, and everyone else owns what they think is theirs.  Those who don't know what they own, own nothing.  

This is my deep, meaningful and profound disclaimer.  Bet that's a first, eh?

Well, I've started chapter five before I even posted chapter four.  I _never _do that!  My muse is working overtime… although come to think of it, who _is _my muse?

Anyway.  This is a rather dark chapter full of tortured souls.  We have also an escaped dragon, a rain of fire, a kidnap and a fight between brothers.

Started: 26/10/02

*

The dragon galloped down the dark corridor, screaming its anger and fright for all the castle to hear.

Its wings snapped open and it broke into flight suddenly yet smoothly, and flapped up the stairs.  The dragon landed on the ground floor of Bowser's castle.  Many pairs of goomba, koopa and bob-omb eyes looked up at the sound.  The sight that greeted them sent Bowser's servants into a panic and all turned tail and ran, some with a stab of fire on their heels.

The dragon bellowed and sent a fiery battering ram through the portcullis as it galloped towards freedom.  It shouldered its way through the smoking remains and ran on, spreading its wings.  Then it dove off the edge of the castle grounds.

Bowser's castle was situated on a flying island.  The enchantment to make it fly had been a present from Kamek, the magi-koopa.  He hadn't been seen for many years now though.

The dragon flew around the giant chain that tethered the island a few times to gather speed.  Then it sped off in the direction of Toad Town.

As the town passed beneath it the dragon roared at it.  It hated this town.  It hated Bowser's castle.  At the moment, it hated everything and everyone.

It is widely believed that being locked away and never seeing the light of day is the worst kind of imprisonment there is.  This belief is wrong, and the dragon knew from experience.  Being locked away and being allowed to see the light of day is far worse.  For you will see it and enjoy it, but it never lasts for nearly long enough, because you will only be locked away again to dwell on it, and go insane wondering if they will let you see it again or not.

Sometimes you are more of a prisoner when you are free…

~

Bowser dropped the torch at Herman's feet.  The clattering sound it made seemed to fill the whole dungeon and bounce off the walls.

Herman looked down at it and tried to swallow, but he was so terrified he couldn't.  He risked looking up at Bowser's face.  It was impassive, but he had a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I-I-I don't…  it's not…  I never…" Herman faltered.

Slowly Bowser leaned down and put his face close to Herman.  The shadows slid across it until it seemed only his yellow eyes were left.  They gleamed dully, burning into Herman and leaving imprints on the inside of his eyelids.

_"I trusted you."_

He said it in a murderous whisper.

"And you know I am the only one who has, the only one who does, _and the only one who ever will."  _

Bowser's had shot out and grabbed Herman by the throat.  He stood up and lifted Herman with him and stared into his face.

"WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!"

Herman screamed and Bowser dropped him roughly.  "Do I sense cracks in your resolve?  What has come over you, my little evil one?" he snarled.

Herman lay on the ground and whimpered silently.  He knew the psychology that Bowser was using on him.  Herman was evil and there was no way he could ever be anything else, which was the reason Bowser trusted him but no-one, nobody else in the entire kingdom would.  He was an outcast from his own race.  He could never go back, he would stay with Bowser for the rest of his miserable life.  

This was how Bowser controlled him.  This was the power he had tried to exert over the dragon, but it hadn't worked.  Just like him, the dragon had the smallest amount of goodness left in its soul.  One ragged scrap of light that screamed at Herman night and day, screaming to be let out of the evil surrounding it.  One tiny, crushed little voice which was all that was left of his spirit; which was not enough to prevent him doing evil, but enough to torment him with the knowledge that he was evil and did evil things, but just not liking it didn't make everything alright.

"Look at you," Bowser spat.  "If your people could only see what a pathetic creature you are…"

Herman sobbed at Bowsers feet and screamed, begging him to take away this tiny shred of conscience that gnawed at him constantly, yelling at the world to let the darkness overcome him and end the suffering now.  Just like being imprisoned and allowed to see the light of day, being good enough to suffer from the darkness inside you was worse than being pure evil.

Bowser grinned malevolently.  "Alright."  He picked Herman up by the neck again.  "It's time for your rehabilitation."  He flung the cowering little creature into the dragon's old cell and slammed the door.

~

The dragon circled the town and let fly a searing fireball that demolished a house.  Amid screams of terror and pain it wheeled around and spurted another stream of flame that destroyed a shop.

The dragon was angry and confused, and so was taking out its frustration on Toad Town.  Toads were running in panic away from the shadow that fell across the town square and rained fire down onto the many little stalls.

"What's going on out there?" cried Peach and ran to a large window.  The Mario Brothers followed her and they all stared out in horror as they watched the huge red reptile destroy the town.

"We've got to do something!" cried Peach.

"Let's go," said Mario, and Luigi nodded.  They ran to the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" said Peach.  "You're not going out there!  Guards!  Stop them, please?"

The two Toad guards that stood at the door barred Mario and Luigi's way.  They turned to Peach.  "We have to go out there," said Mario.  "How else do we protect the town?"

"I don't know, but I know you can't go out there," wailed Peach.  "You would be killed!"

"Well, what are we going to do?" asked Luigi.

The dragon flapped its way to a higher altitude.  Its instincts were beginning to kick in.  

There was a problem.  Bowser was trying to imprison it against its will.  There was this town.  Someone in it must be able to do something about Bowser.  Therefore, it was clear: kidnap their princess.  

This was the dragon's logic.  This was all dragons' logic.  Almost nobody would help a dragon when it had a problem, out of fear usually.  But threaten them with the thought of losing their princess and suddenly everyone wanted to make sure there was nothing happening to upset the dragon.  Many dragons were killed though, by knights who thought the solution was to save the princess and get rid of the dragon.  But over many years there developed a superstition that to kill a dragon was bad luck, because something bad always happened after.  The people never took the time to think that the reason something bad happened was because they were not heeding the dragon's warning of trouble.

There was a princess here.  The dragon could feel it in his bones.  It turned to face Peach's castle.  With a sudden feeling of purpose the dragon swept away towards it.

"The fires are being put out," commented Luigi, looking out of Peach's window.  

"Have any new ones started?" asked Mario.

"No… the dragon's disappeared!"

"Oh!" moaned Peach.  "It could be anywhere!"

"Well, while it's not around we could go out there and help clean up the mess it's made," said Luigi.

"I—aaaaaaah!" Peach squealed.

"What?" Mario turned to look at the thing she was staring at.  So did Luigi.

She was pointing at the huge stained-glass portrait of herself high up in the wall.  Against it, growing larger by the second was a shadow in the shape of a dragon.

**CRASH!**

Mario, Luigi and Peach all screamed as the dragon smashed through the window and perched on the ledge.  It stuck out its neck and poked its head into the room.  Glass fell in a colourful shower, which rained down on the Mario Brothers and Peach.

The dragon roared.

_"GROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAHR!"_

It extended a scaly foreleg and swept Mario and Luigi out of the way.  They were bowled into the wall and lay stunned for a moment.

The dragon then reached its head down toward Peach.  She screamed and began to run away, but the dragon leapt down from the window and landed with a thud that shook the floor and knocked Peach to the ground.  She felt needle-sharp teeth close over the material of her dress, and with surprising delicacy was lifted high into the air.  She cried out again as the dragon turned and leapt out of the window.  It caught the wind with its wings and as it flew transferred her from its mouth to its front claws.

The Mario Brothers got to their feet and dashed past the shocked guards and out the door.  They ran outside the castle and stopped, searching the skies.

"There it is!" Mario exclaimed.  "Let's go!"

"No, wait!" said Luigi.  He grabbed Mario's shoulder.  "We can't just go running after it!"

"Well do you have a better idea?" snapped Mario.

"We don't know where it's going or what we'll find there.  I say we go home, get properly prepared, and then go after it."  Luigi began to walk off.

"Are you crazy?  How can we get better prepared?  Look, I've faced Bowser with nothing except my bare hands!"

Luigi kept walking and Mario resignedly ran to catch up.  

"I know you've defeated Bowser before, but this isn't Bowser we're talking about," Luigi told him as they began to climb the hill where their house was built.  "This isn't just about you, you know, I want to save Peach as well!  And I'd feel a lot better if we went about it properly prepared!"

"Oh, I get it!" Mario stopped angrily.  "You don't want me to be the hero again!  You want to make it look like you did the work!"

Luigi stopped suddenly, and stiffened.  He didn't turn around.

"What?" he said coldly.

"Admit it, you're jealous, aren't you?  Everyone says you must be, but personally I never believed it!  I thought you were better than that, Luigi!"

Luigi turned, and his eyes were hard like ice.  He didn't shout or yell, he just whispered fiercely.

"No," he said, "I won't admit it.  And why?  Because it's not true!  I know people say I must be jealous of you!  When they ask me and I tell them I'm not, they say 'well, aren't you a wonderful brother,' or something, but _they don't believe me._  I love you Mario, you're my brother and I'd never have you any other way, but I thought at least that you of all people would believe me when I said that."

With that, Luigi stopped, breathing heavily, then turned on his heel and stalked into the house.  The door slammed.

Mario stood there, stunned.  He suddenly felt like kicking himself.  

All this time, I never knew what was bothering him…

"Luigi—" he began, but never got further than that.  At that moment, the dragon passed overhead.

It still had Peach in its arms.  It had nowhere to take her, and was feeling rather foolish and more than a little angry.  So it vented its spite in a burst of flame that disintegrated the Mario Brothers' house.

"NO!" Mario screamed.  He stared at the smoking ruin.  "NOOO!"

He went to rush forward, but suddenly he was jerked upwards.  Looking behind him, he realised that the spike on the end of the dragon's tail had caught in his shirt and he was being lifted away from the hill.

Mario grabbed the tail and clung to it, weeping.  As the house faded from view, he cried out one more time.

"LUIGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 26/10/02

Oh ho ho, this is terrible isn't it?  I must say it was a very dramatic ending by my standards.  I'm sorry, my poor fellow Luigi fans!  I didn't see this one coming actually.  

It's quite possible that I'll get some flames now.  Well, go ahead, I know I would.


	6. Bolt From The Greens?

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST 

Part Six: Bolt From The… Greens?

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: Sorry mates, but I don't own all these wonderful and beautiful copyrighted things.  Guess you'll have to find a non-sucking-up plagiarist to sue.

Did you notice that nobody reads these author notes?  Oh well.

Well everyone, I guess that last chapter surprised you some!  I mean, ME having Luigi kick the bucket in my own story?  Naw, it couldn't be.  Or could it…?

Also, a guest appearance by a certain cute dinosaur and from a well-known mail carrier.  And Bowser pours his little heart out. 

Started: 28/10/02

*

Bowser growled and grumbled to himself as he stumped up the dark stone passage.

It was too dark; he knew the dungeons fairly well, but he was looking for something.  Bowser held the torch he had taken from Herman.  He huffed a small flame and set alight.  He held the torch up to the cold wall and regarded it briefly.

Not here.  It was further along.

Bowser walked on until he reached a seemingly unremarkable blank wall.  He held the torch up and bathed it in flickering orange light.  He smiled to himself and reached out, pressing hard against the wall.  It made a grinding noise and bits of mortar fell away, then it swung open slowly, revealing another dark passage.

Bowser walked through the doorway and closed the door behind him.  It immediately blended in with the rest of the wall, as if it had never been there.

Bowser hurried down the hidden passage and walked into a large, empty room.

Empty, but for a gigantic winch with a humungous chain wound partway around it.  And a large group of Whomps, Thwomps, and Chomps.

"Alright you lot!" yelled Bowser.  "We're weighing anchor!  Get moving!" he snarled.

The giant chain was stretched from the winch to a hold in the floor.  Now the Whomps, Thwomps and Chomps positioned themselves along its length.  The Whomps gripped it with their round hands, the Chomps dragged hold with their teeth and the Thwomps had smaller chains fastened around them and around the enormous Island Chain.

The head Thwomp shouted a command and as one the group of inorganic creatures began to pull.  The Thwomps leaned back and heaved.  The Chomps gritted their teeth and tugged, almost invisible in the darkness except for the highlights of light that glinted off their spherical black bodies.  The Thwomps levitated into the air and strained against their chains.

Far below, in a small patch of forest, the ground began to quake.  It was centred about a massive chain dug deep into the ground.  The grass bulged.  Brown gashed snaked their way out from the chain.  There was a creaking and old trees leaned over.  Then with a twisting and a snapping and a groaning the ground suddenly exploded.  Chunks of earth, grass, bushes, and trees flew into the air.  Animal fled.  Birds flew away.  It rained pieces of forest for a few seconds.

And the gargantuan anchor rose slowly into the air.  It cast a huge shadow over the destruction, glinting in the sun as it spun gently.

"Alright, the anchor's up!" roared Bowser.  "Get on that winch!"

The enslaved creatures lined up at the winch.  The handle had been extended to fit all of them along its length.  The Thwomps were chained in, the Chomps closed their teeth around it and the Whomps grabbed hold.

Slowly they began to turn the winch.  All of them were forced to stretch to the height of their reach in order to make the handle go all the way around.  For a while there was no sound except grunts of effort from the slaves and groans from the colossal chain and winch.

After the anchor had been raised, the winch was locked and the slaves were allowed a rest.  Bowser clapped his hands twice.

_"_DUE NORTH!_  GO!!!"_

At this the entire island spun around in the air until the castle was facing north, then slowly at first, it flew off in a straight line.

Bowser hurried away, back up the secret passage, through the dungeons and all the way upstairs until he was at the highest point of the castle.  The wind blew through his orange mane as he leaned on the parapet.  Way up ahead, he could see something large, winged and red.  The dragon.  As he had guessed, it was heading north.

Bowser smiled grimly.  "You can run all you like, friend.  You'll just have to learn that there isn't really anywhere you can go…"

~

It was dark.  It was cold.  Above all, it was silent.  There were no rats, not even the sound of water dripping.

In the Dark Dungeon, you could be dead and not even know.

Herman huddled against the cold steel plating covering the bars.  He shuddered, from both cold and fear.  It wasn't so much the dark energy that frightened him.  You didn't really notice it.  No, in the Dark Dungeon there were… other things.

Herman moved deeper into the shadows.

Hiding in shadows was mainly habit, because there was nobody to see him in the dungeon.  Or was there…?

Being in the shadows also gave him the advantage of being able to see everything else better.  There were things he didn't really want to see, but he would rather keep an eye on them than let them get behind him…

Herman's eyes widened in fright as a pale, ghostly white light began to suffuse the dungeon.  Here came one…

From the centre of the light appeared a translucent spectre.  It was the shape of a girl, no more than sixteen, with blank, empty eye sockets.  She was followed by an old woman, a man in strange robes, a group of women ranging from around fifteen to fifty, some of them holding babies, and a man with a ghostly rope around his neck.

The dungeon was filled with a rush of sighs and whispers as the spirits floated around the cell and murmured amongst themselves.

The first ghost narrowed her empty eye sockets at Herman.  "You, again?"

Herman whimpered, and shivered.  The dungeon's temperature had gone down a few degrees with the appearance of the spectres.

"It was bad enough our last resting place was disturbed, but we cannot even haunt the building that destroyed it because it is strewn all over the place!" she said, in shout that was at the same time, no louder than a whisper.

"What do you want from me?  I never did anything wrong!" cried Herman.

"Neither did any of us.  We were innocent of the crimes we were killed for.  We all died _for no reason.  _Do you know how that feels?"

Herman screamed once, and passed out.

~

The dragon reached the altitude it had been searching for, and went into a shallow dive.  It could fly like this for ages without having to flap once.  In spite of being scared out of her wits, Peach was impressed by the dragon's grace in the air.

The wind whipped her hair out into a golden fan across the dragon's chest.  She held her crown on with one hand, and with the other she gripped the dragon's foreleg for dear life.

The dragon itself was not sure where it was going.  Something was reaching out across space _and _time, pulling it northwards.  He didn't know it, but the spot he was focusing on was the northern border of the Mushroom Kingdom.

At the end of the dragon's tail, Mario was also hanging on with all his might.  But he was too preoccupied to be frightened, which was lucky because hanging onto the tail of a confused, fire-breathing dragon flying at 100km/h at an altitude of one thousand feet was possibly the most dangerous and terrifying situation he had ever been in.

But Mario never even gave it a thought.  With tears in his eyes he yelled at the world in general.

"I'm sorry Luigi!" he cried.  "I never meant any of those things I said!"  He paused as the event played itself over in his mind for the thousandth time.  "If I hadn't made you mad you never would have been in the house in the first place!"

The dragon's sensitive ears picked up sounds coming from right behind him.  It could also feel a weight on his tail that was causing a fair amount of drag.  It couldn't turn its head to look because in the middle of flight that could cause him not only to turn around but also, lose all aerodynamics and fall straight out of the sky.  At this speed it would probably already be dead though, from breaking it's neck.

Instead the dragon slowed down and shook its tail hard.

"AAH!" said Mario as he was whipped through the air.  His grip was loosened and he plummeted toward the ground.

The dragon felt the weight be released and began to ascend.

Mario, however, kept descending.  The dragon had been at somewhat less that a thousand feet at the time but he still had a long way to fall.  

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH!" he yelled.

Mario landed in a tall tree, and bounced off the branches and tumbled into a bush.  They broke his fall, more or less.  He lay there and groaned for a moment, but it was a very uncomfortable moment so he climbed out laboriously.  Scratched and bruised, but still alive, Mario stood up and looked around.

He was all the way across the other side of the kingdom.  Ahead of him lay a large plain, and beyond that, the northern border.  High above him the dragon flew onwards.

Then, another shadow passed over Mario.  He looked up to see the bottom half of a flying island, with a gigantic anchor sticking out of the bottom.  On top of it he could just see a large, black castle.

"Oh, no," he said.  "It's Bowser!"

Mario began to run, ignoring the pain that was causing him to limp.  He ran faster than he ever had, following the path of the dragon and Bowser's flying island.

~

Back in Toad Town, Toad was about to set out to the castle and see what all the destruction had been caused by, when he heard a knock on his brand new door.  As he ran to answer it, the knocking came again.  It sounded urgent.

He opened the door.  "Oh, hello—"

"No time for greetings Toad, this is an emergency.  I need all three of the Power Caps."

"Oh, right, I'll get them…" He took the Invisible Cap, the Metal Cap and the Wing Cap from the safety of the locked chest they were kept in.

"What's the emergency?"

"The Princess has been kidnapped."

"Well, wait, I'm coming—" but it was too late.

At the post office, Parakarry was the only one in.  He was out the back when he heard a frantic binging from the little bell thing on the front desk.

"I'm coming, I'm coming… Wow, what happened to _you_, —"

"Quick, Parakarry, I need this letter sent."

Parakarry realised that this was an urgent situation, and didn't argue or waste time.

"Yoshi's Island?  I'll have to go through the warp pipe.  It won't take a minute."

He jumped into a green pipe behind the counter, and emerged a few minutes later, followed by a familiar green dinosaur.

_"Whit-whitu!" _(I got the message, what's the emergency?)

"Thanks Parakarry.  Come with me, Yoshi, I'll explain on the way."

~

Peach shivered as the dragon reached the northern border.  It was much colder here, and darker.  And scarier.

There was nothing but bare ground for kilometres around.  Even the grass was scarce.  But against the barren landscape loomed a dark, forbidding shape.

It was a deserted, tumbledown old castle.  It looked like it had once been large and impressive, but now it looked like a sinister old ruin.  Most of the towers had crumbled and fallen down.  There were holes in the wall and roof where massive black stones were missing, and some of the stones were scattered around it.  But it was well built and still stood quite firmly.

The dragon swooped down towards it and deposited Peach in the most sturdy of the still-standing towers.  From there she could see down into the main room of the castle because nearly the whole roof was gone.  The dragon flew into the hole and landed on the overgrown flagstones that had once been the floor.  The whole castle shook as it did so, and Peach was afraid her tower would collapse.

The dragon stood and roared defiance at the world, then settled down to wait.  What for, the Princess had no idea.

She found out soon enough.  As she took a look around her room, full of furniture and fixtures that had been destroyed or rotted from exposure to the weather through the hole in the wall, she glanced up at the sky and saw a large silhouette blotting out the sun.

As she watched, the thing floated towards the castle ruin and stopped, hovering, right above it.

Peach gasped as she realised what it was.  "Bowser's flying island!"

Below her, the dragon awoke and looked up.  It growled, and flew out through the hole in the ceiling to meet the island.

With a sudden roar, King Bowser himself leapt from the edge of the island and grabbed the dragon's neck.  It bellowed furiously and sprayed the sky with fire.  Still Bowser clung fast, and the dragon flew back down into the castle.  Peach was bowled over in its wake and steadied herself against the wall.

Down in the main room, the dragon landed and slammed its neck against the floor.  The castle shook and Bowser was dislodged.  He scrambled to his feet and faced down the dragon, panting.

"You can't win," he said.  "You can't escape me.  You need me!  Without me, you are just a big, lost, misfit, killing machine!  But together you and I could do anything… we have the power to take whatever we want, and nobody could stop us!"

The dragon roared in reply, and breathed flames.  Bowser dodged them.

"You defy me?  I raised you!  I taught you everything you know!  I _own _you!"

The dragon growled a reply.

"You own yourself?  Well, for someone that owns themselves, a princess and an old ruined castle isn't much to show for it!"

The dragon growled again.

"It's more than I have?  Is that a challenge?"

The dragon roared.

"Yes, I will fight you!" replied Bowser.  He drew breath and countered the dragon's flame with one of his own.

Although the dragon was much more powerful, it was used to using a lazy flame because there was nothing that ever required a more concentrate one.  However, Bowser knew all this and he concentrated his fire into a powerful blaze of such intensity that it cancelled both of them out.

The dragon narrowed its eyes and began to draw breath for a more powerful flame.  But Bowser took the opportunity to spray a weaker gust of fire into the vulnerable area of the dragon's face.

It screamed and reared in anger more than pain, because its scales were tough and heat-resistant.  Then it spurted a line of regular flame at Bowser with such suddenness that he didn't have quite enough time to get into his shell, and he growled in pain as his face was singed.  He fell over and hid in his spiny shell.

The dragon roared triumphantly and spread its wings.  Then it took off through the hole and flew around the castle proudly.

Peach gasped and crept down the old stairs.  She sneaked to the entrance into the room where Bowser lay and peeked in.

He never stirred.  Peach listened carefully; the dragon had landed outside the castle and was standing guard.  She hurried into the middle of the room and crouched timidly at Bowser's shell.

He slowly extended his head, arms, legs and tail.  Peach quailed at the sight that met her.

The left half of Bowser's head was black, and most of his mane was burned off.  His shell was scorched also.  His left eye was closed.

"Are you alright?" asked Peach, when he made no further movement.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered.

"But your face—it's black!"

Bowser reached up a claw and scraped at the blackness.  "Just soot.  Dragons aren't the only things with scales you know."

"Your eye—"

"The soot in it hurts something chronic, but otherwise it's fine!  Why are you even bothering about me?  I'm the bad one, remember?!"

"Well, excuse me for caring!" said Peach in a huff.  "Since you are hurt, I wasn't going to tell you how horrible you have been to that poor dragon, but if you want—"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to be rude and I'm sorry about the dragon.  This whole mess was for you, y'know."

"What do you mean?" said Peach.  "You sent this dragon to terrorize my kingdom and kidnap me, so you could impress me by defeating it?"

"No," growled Bowser.  "I wanted to use this dragon to get rid of Mario!"

"What?  Kill Mario?  You horrible creature, why in all the world would you do that?"

"Because that miserable little plumber had everything that I want!" he snarled.

Peach stepped back involuntarily.  "What does he have that you could want do much that you would resort to killing him?"

"Family.  Friends.  You."

Peach flushed.  "Me?  I don't know what you mean—"

"Oh come off it, Princess," said Bowser despondently.  "I've seen what you're like about him.  And he's crazy over you.  Like me."

Peach's eyes widened in realization.  She kneeled down again and took Bowser's head in her arms.  "You poor, misunderstood creature.  Is that what this has been about?  All these years, all these kidnappings, and I never had a clue.  Why didn't you say something?"

"Why?  What good would it have done?  Beautiful princesses aren't interested in freaks like me."

"Just because I'm not about to marry you does not mean I would never consider being friends."  The Princess looked at him sadly.  "All this "I'm so evil and scary" business never did you any good.  But just because you made some mistakes—"

Suddenly a roar from outside interrupted them, and then the castle doors swung open slowly.  

Mario fell into the room, dragged himself up, and shut them behind himself.  There was a crash as the dragon landed on the roof and some of it collapsed.  Huge stones crashed to the ground.

"A TRICK!" cried Bowser, leaping to his feet.  He rounded on Peach.  "You were just distracting me, weren't you?  You never meant a word you said!"

"No, Bowser, I was telling the truth!"

Bowser placed his hand around her neck.  "You were keeping me occupied until Mario got here!"

Peach screamed.  Mario ran to her and freed her from Bowser's grip.  Bowser roared and turned to attack Mario, but then the dragon leapt through the roof and landed heavily.

In the moment's distraction, Mario dove behind Bowser and grabbed his tail.  He yanked hard and tripped him up.  Then he began to swing Bowser around.  Bowser snarled and struggled, but Mario swung him faster and faster.  Then suddenly, he let go, just as the dragon lunged.  Bowser flew into the air and smacked into the dragon.

They both fell and landed heavily.  "Come on Peach, let's go!" Mario cried, taking her hand, but Bowser and the dragon had gotten to their feet.  They barred the way to the door.

"Not so fast!" yelled Bowser.

Without warning, the doors swung violently open.  They crashed against the walls and one of them pinned the dragon's tail.  It roared in pain and distracted Bowser.

A tall figure stood in the doorway, silhouetted against the light that came pouring in.

Mario's eyes widened in shock.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 30/10/02

Who is the figure in the doorway?  What is Herman's species?  Where did the ghosts come from?  What will Bowser do now that he has confessed all his secrets to Peach?  What will Peach do now that she knows them?  

If you want to know the answers to these questions, I want at least one review that comments on the Mario and Luigi fight scene in chapter five, as well as on the events of this chapter.

Bye guys!


	7. Edged With Dark Horses

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST 

Part 7: Edged With Dark Horses

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: I OWN EVERYTHING!  AND EVERYONE!  AND THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!  BWA HA HA HA!  BOW DOWN TO ME, FOR I AM THE MIGHTY KING BOWSER!

*Sk8er Grl leaps into the room, bound and gagged.  She spits out the gag.*

SG: No, don't listen to him!  I don't wanna get sued!  AAAAAAAAAAARGH!

*The lawyers come and take her away.*

SG: No!  It was him!  It was Bowser!  He made the outrageous claims!  I was framed!  I was framed!  Help meeeeeeeee…

Hello, and welcome to part seven of The Liberated Past.  I am King Bowser and I will be your host as SG is… unavailable.

In this chapter, we will find out who the mysterious figure in the doorway is.  HA!  Fools!  I know already, and you don't!  The mysterious figure is—

SG: STOP!

*She runs in followed by a bunch of police, who tackle Bowser and handcuff him.*

POLICEMAN: You are under arrest for plagiarism, framing Sk8er Grl and attempting to give away the story and ruin it for everyone.  You have no rights because this is such a heinous crime.

SG: Ahem.  Okay, sorry about all that, on with the story.

*

Mario's jaw dropped.  "L… _Luigi?!" _he stuttered.  "You're alive?"

Luigi stepped through the doorway and the shadows fell away, revealing that it really was him.

"But I thought… the dragon…"

"After our fi… after I went inside, I went to shut the window, when the dragon flew over.  I jumped out of it just as the house went up."

Mario stood motionless for a moment, and then the feeling returned to his limbs.  He ran over and hugged his brother.

"It doesn't matter how you got out, I'm just glad you're okay!" he cried.  "I'm sorry about all the things I said; I didn't mean them!"

"It's alright, Mario, I shouldn't have gotten mad over something you didn't mean."

"Don't be stupid, you were right to be mad when I was such a bastard to you!"

"Well, I forgive you, okay?  Don't go beating yourself up over it."

Mario laughed through tears of relief.  "You're the best damn brother a guy could have," he said.

"Yeah, you too," replied Luigi.

"Aw, gee, isn't this touching!" Bowser sneered.  "Excuse me but I think I'm gunna hurl!"

Mario and Luigi stood apart as Bowser limped towards them.  

"I'm sorry to have to tell you that your troubles aren't over yet!" he spat.

_"Wheeeee-heeeee-toh!" _(Actually, they are!)

The cry came from outside.  Bowser looked up, startled, and received a blow in the face from an egg travelling at high speed.

_"Whit-whitwhoh!" _(But yours are just beginning!)

A green dinosaur leapt through the door and threw another egg at Bowser.  

"Yoshi!" cried Mario.  "What are you doing here?"

_"Whiii-wheeeeeeoh whi!" _(Saving your sorry arse, now lets go!)

Mario and Luigi jumped onto his back, then they helped Peach up.

"Are you sure you can carry all of us?" said Luigi.

_"Wheeeeto!" _(You'd better hope so!)

With that, he turned around and picked up a blue koopa shell that he had dropped outside the door, and slurped it into his mouth.

Immediately Yoshi grew a pair of feathery white wings, and leapt into the air.

He fell back to earth almost immediately.

_"Wheeeeeeeeeeeooooooooooo!" _he whistled.  (Too much weight!)

"I'll get off," said Mario and jumped down before anyone could argue.

"Quick, take this!" Luigi called and tossed him something shiny.  Then Yoshi once again took to the air, this time successfully.

Mario looked at the item Luigi had thrown him.  It was the Metal Cap.  Behind him, there was a loud, angry bellow.

The dragon had been too confused by the recent events to attack anyone.  But now it had established that Mario, Luigi and Yoshi were clearly the enemies because they were taking his princess.  It roared again and stepped over Bowser's unconscious form, and exited once again through the roof.

"Hey!  Dragon!  Stop!" yelled Mario.  At least, it sounded sort of like Mario.  But Mario hadn't had that metallic edge to his voice before…

The dragon landed on the dirt and looked down at the silvery figure before it.

Swiftly Metal Mario dove between the dragon's forelegs and grabbed one of its hind feet as it turned to look for him.  Then he lunged for the dragons tail and grabbed it around the tip.

The dragon roared in frustration.  Hastily Mario gave the tail a yank.  It took all his strength but he managed to trip the dragon.

The dragon roared again, and Mario swore.  It was too heavy to swing around by the tail.  

His moment of indecision was all that the dragon needed.  It flicked its tail and Mario was knocked flying.  The dragon climbed to its feet and faced Mario.  Then it puffed out its chest, and Mario reacted a split second before it flamed.  The fire passed within inches of hitting him, and Mario cried out in surprise and pain because the heat was incredible, even to his metal skin.

He jumped up as the dragon prepared to breathe fire again, but his heart kicked in his chest because the Metal Cap fell off.

He had no time to reach it.  The dragon opened its mouth.

Suddenly it jerked to the side and the fire missed Mario by millimetres.  Yoshi flew over the dragon's head and threw another egg at it.  Then he touched down next to Mario.

"Quick, get on," said Luigi.

"But I'm too heavy!" protested Mario.

_"Whitwhitaaah!" _(I'll just have to run like hell!) said Yoshi through his mouthful.

"What did you do with the Metal Cap?" asked Luigi as Yoshi bolted.  Mario pulled his own cap out of his pocket and tried to put it back on as he rode.

"I don't think it's much use to us now," he replied.  Luigi looked back and saw a puddle of metal on the ground.

"Holy he—"

_"WHOOOOOOOOOOOAAARGH!"_

The dragon galloped after Yoshi, and roared again, ferociously.

Peached squealed.  "Why is it not flaming?"

"It doesn't want to hit you!" Mario answered.  

"If it is only after me, let me off so you can escape!" she said. 

"Oh no, we're not giving you back to the dragon!" Mario replied.

"Besides, as soon as you get off we'll be roasted alive!" added Luigi.

"It's gaining on us!" cried Mario.

Yoshi panted.  _"Wheeeoooeeeooooo!" _(I can't run any faster!)

At that moment the dragon was upon them.  It lunged at Peach, trying to pick her up in its jaws, but Yoshi swerved.  The dragon roared and swiped at him with its claws.  The strike connected and Yoshi screamed in pain and stumbled.  He fell to the ground and Mario and Luigi fell out of his saddle.

But Peach found herself rising.  The dragon once again held her in its teeth, and it transferred her to its front to hold her in its forelegs.  It opened its wings and leapt into the air, circling back to the castle.

"Not again!" she wailed.

"Yoshi!  Are you alright?" asked Mario urgently.  The green dinosaur opened his eyes slowly.  Luigi helped him to his feet.  Yoshi winced.  Gingerly he tried to put weight onto his right leg, but the two huge gashes were too painful.

"Oh no, you can't walk on that.  Lie back down," Mario told him.

_"Whee-ooh.  Whit-whiteeeh whoot!" _(Uh-uh.  We've gotta go back and get the princess.)

"There's no time to start arguing now," said Luigi.  "Before we decide anything, we've got to stop that bleeding."  He took off his green shirt and ripped it at the seams to make a rough bandage.  He wound it tightly around Yoshi's leg.

"How does that feel?" he asked.  Yoshi nodded, grimacing.

_"Whiit whii whoo." _(I'll be able to fly.)

"Well, alright, but only back to our house," said Mario.

"And we're walking," said Luigi.

_"Wheee whit whoo!" _(Like hell you are!)  Yoshi proceeded to demonstrate that he was still perfectly capable of flying.

"No, Yoshi, you're not carrying us!" replied Mario.

_"Wheeet whhhiiiioooo whiii!" _(Then I'm not moving,) said Yoshi stubbornly.

Luigi rolled his eyes.  "Alright, you win, you can fly us all back."

~

The dragon deposited Peach gently into her tower, then flew back through the hole in the castle roof.

Bowser stirred and awoke as the dragon nudged him with its foot.  He looked up at the dragon, then suddenly roared angrily.  The dragon stood back and regarded Bowser questioningly.  Bowser stood up and roared again.  The dragon flattened its ears back and swished its tail threateningly.

Bowser turned and ran out of the castle doors.  He stood on the barren ground and roared at the sky.  The sound echoed and bounced off the walls of the castle.  

He kept roaring and snarling bitterly at nothing, angry and confused and most of all, heartbroken.  He turned and looked up at the tower that Peach watched from fretfully.

"How could you?!" he snarled at her, shaking a fist.  "How dare you lead me to believe for one second that I might have meant anything to you at all!  All for the sake of that miserable, wretched, pathetic _plumber_!!!"

He roared again, and the heartrending cries brought tears to Peach's eyes.  She watched sorrowfully as Bowser stormed off toward the place where his flying island was tethered.

"It was never like that!" she cried, but it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Bowser…" she whispered.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 31/10/02

This was a short chapter, originally I intended it to be longer, but it turned out to fit better into two chapters.  You knew I'd post this even if I didn't get a review about the fight scene in chapter five, didn't you?  But I'm having more fun writing this than you're having reading it.  NB the title for this chapter sounds weird, I know, you'd probably understand what I mean by it if I said that "dark horses" is a name for pessimists and such… yeah I know, still makes no sense.  Oh well.  

See that down there?  Use it!

 |

\/


	8. Ways In Which Castle Storming Can Go Hor...

21st Century Yoshi presents

THE LIBERATED PAST 

Part 8: Ways In Which Castle-Storming Can Go Horribly, Horribly Wrong…

By Sk8er Grl

DISCLAIMER: To determine for yourself whether I own any Nintendo characters, places or things, please take a moment to fill out the questionnaire below.

Does SG own any of Nintendo's characters, places or things?

a) Yes.

b) No.

c) All of the above.

If you answered a, you are wrong.  If you answered b, you are right.  If you answered c, you are a smart@r$e like me.

Okay, now that's cleared up.  In this not-so-long awaited chapter, I **WAS** going to finally reveal Herman's species, find a replacement for the Metal Cap, and have scary ghosts freak out Luigi… AAAH!  Ghosts!!!  (I'm afraid of ghosts.  They're scary!)  But it got too long.  But I do introduce a brand new character.  And there's plenty of action and adventure.

Started: 1/11/02

*

Yoshi landed, breathing laboriously, in front of a pile of ashes and rubble.  _"Wheee… whit… whee?" _(Um… this is… your house?)  He caught his breath.  _"Whiit whooh, wheeeoh?" _(It looks different; did you redecorate?)

"Ha ha," said Mario gloomily.

"This is the dragon's idea of décor," explained Luigi.  He touched a burn on his arm tenderly.

"Let's go up to the palace," said Mario.  "The dragon won't come back to the town now that it's got what it wants."

"But this time you are NOT carrying us," Luigi told Yoshi sternly.  "You can barely stand as it is."

Yoshi didn't argue this time; instead, he spread his wings and flew onward.

At Peach's castle, they were let in by one of the guards.

"There's no point investigating," Mario told him, looking at the swarm of police gathered around the base of the broken window.  "Just get it repaired in time for when we rescue the princess."

Yoshi was set on the couch in front of a fire, and Mario found some proper bandages for his leg.  "These are just until we can get you to a doctor," he said.  Then he turned to Luigi.  "And you need something done for those burns."  Mario had already done his best to clean the cuts and scratches he had sustained from falling into the tree, but without his shirt on Luigi could not hide the fact that he was by far the worse for wear.

"Ah, its not that bad," Luigi protested.  

"Don't try to be a hero, you've done plenty of that already," Mario warned, and examined his injuries.  Up close, they looked worse than he had thought.  Luigi may have escaped being burnt to a crisp, but it had been a near thing and he had copped a fair few burns and abrasions from debris and burning shrapnel from the house.  "Look, at least have a wash or something," Mario told him.  

Luigi sighed in agreement and trudged wearily to the bathroom.  Mario sat down with Yoshi and stared broodingly into the flames.  He rubbed a graze on the back of his neck.  

_"Wheee whit whit too?" _(How are you going to rescue Peach now?)

"I don't know… It destroyed the Metal Cap; there's nothing else in the kingdom strong enough to protect us from that dragon now."

There was silence except for the crackling of the fire.  Luigi returned, carrying something.  He didn't like to see his brother so depressed, so decided to lighten the mood.

"Hey Mario, look what I found!"  He held up a pink t-shirt, probably the most casual thing Peach owned.  "A muscle shirt!" he said goofily, and proceeded to attempt to put it on.

Mario couldn't help but break into a grin as Luigi tried to put on a woman's shirt.  Yoshi hooted with laughter as he struggled to pull it over his head.

"AAH!  Help!  I'm stuck!" Luigi cried, his voice muffled by the t-shirt on his face.  Mario laughed and stood up to help his brother.  

"I can't breathe!" screamed Luigi.

Mario yanked the shirt off his head and tossed it on the floor.  Jokingly he slapped Luigi on the back of his head.  "I'll give you muscle shirt!  You don't have muscles!"

"Oh yeah?  Look at this!" replied Luigi, flexing his arms.  "I'm an iron man!"

Mario laughed again, but Luigi froze.  Mario stared at him.  His eyes were unfocused, like he was seeing something nobody else could.  "Iron…" he muttered.

"Wait, that's it!" he yelled suddenly, causing Mario to jump. 

"What is it?" he asked.

"How can we have been so stupid?!" Luigi yelled.  "It all makes so much sense now!"

"What on earth are you talking about?" interrupted Mario.  

"Bowser!  Bowser's dragon!"

"What about them?  And how can you know for sure that the dragon belongs to Bowser?"

"It's been staring us in the face for so long!" Luigi replied.  "Surprise attacks, kidnapping the Princess, attempts on our lives—"

"_Your _life," interrupted Mario.

Luigi waved him into silence.  "Luring us into that old abandoned castle… I mean come on, there they were, fighting side by side—of course it's Bowser's dragon!"

"That doesn't tell us anything.  We don't know where he got it or how to get rid of it.  And where does the iron come into it?"

Luigi rolled his eyes in frustration.  "Who do we know, apart from the Toads, that has access to and extensive knowledge of metals?"

Mario was beginning to understand.  "Go on…"

"Bowser's been hiding that dragon away for ages!  He must have found something strong enough to contain it.  If we only knew what it was, we _might _have a way of defeating the dragon."

"Yes!" cried Mario ecstatically.  "Of course!"  He slapped Luigi on the back.  "You're right!  What are we waiting for?  Let's go!"

_"Wheewhoo?" _(Go where?)

"Bowser's dungeons," said Luigi.

"I always knew you were the smart one," said Mario as they left the castle.

"_And _the good-looking one."

"Aah," muttered Mario and made a hand signal behind Luigi's back.

_"Wheewhoo whit whit!" _(Hey, wait, you're not going without me!)

"No, Yoshi, _you_ are staying right there!" Mario said, and closed the doors behind him.

_"Whii whit." _(Like hell,) Yoshi muttered, and went to pick up the discarded blue shell.  _"Whi!  Wheeoh!" _(Ew, cold spit!)

He wiped the cold drool off it and put it into his mouth.  Then he made a limping run-up and flew out of the smashed window, leaving the protests of the police behind.

~

_"WHROOOAH!  WRAAAAAGHH!"_

King Bowser's mournful, angry cries echoed through his castle.  He stormed through the throne room, scattering servants, and stomped up the stairs.  He climbed up to the tower and leaned against the battlements.  From there, he watched the sky become stained blood red as the sun set.  He slumped against them, feeling helpless and betrayed.  He had poured his heart out to Peach, and now he felt exposed and vulnerable.  It was as if he was worthless; an expendable figure in her eyes.

"Right," he growled, some of his previous vehemence returning.  "Those Mario brothers have taken all they can get from me.  They are going to regret the day they ever set eyes on—" he practically spat the name "—Princess Peach!"

He leaned back and began to plot.

Bowser's roars as he entered the castle had filtered down and reached Herman's ears as he slowly returned to consciousness.  He lay, facedown, his eyes tightly shut, trying to pretend that he was alone.  It was no use.

The dungeon cell was freezing cold and filled with sad whispers, sighs and moans, which could have been sounds made by the wind… but there was none.  Herman shuddered.  The ghosts were restless, and he wasn't sure why.  They drifted agitatedly around the cell, casting their ethereal light over the walls and floor.  They muttered amongst themselves, and the eerie sounds echoed, making it seem like there were ten times as many of them.

Herman risked a glance.  The ghosts were clustering around the stone walls, stroking them with ectoplasmic fingers.  Despite his fear he found himself wondering what they were doing.

As if she read his thoughts, the ghost of the girl who had first materialised drifted over to Herman.  

"They can sense the building that these stones came from.  It is close by."

"W-why d-d-don't they l-leave the dungeon?" Herman asked, his teeth chattering out of fear and cold.

"They are afraid," she replied.

Herman wanted to ask what on heaven or earth could possible scare a ghost, (another ghost, maybe?) but the room began to spin and he passed out again.

~

Mario and Luigi walked quickly through the town as the light faded.  Around them passed strange contrasts of deserted streets and sudden crowds.

They stopped for a moment to watch emergency rescue teams searching through the rubble that had once been a row of houses.  One of the areas the dragon had struck.

From a mess that had once been a large house, home to an obviously prosperous family, they saw a whole group of bodies being extracted.

"Not one of them survived," murmured Luigi.  Mario was alarmed by the look of horror on his brother's face.  He placed his hand on Luigi's shoulder, trying to think of something to say.

"That could have been me…" Luigi's voice was almost inaudible.

Mario wanted to tell him that he was glad that it wasn't Luigi in one of those body bags, but he couldn't think of a way of putting it that didn't sound like he didn't care about the other people.

"Come on.  We've got work to do," said Mario.  Luigi nodded, and tore his eyes away from the awful scene, grateful to have something else to think about.

The Mario Brothers continued on their way.  Both of them were silent, but the air was thick with unspoken thoughts.  Luigi could stand the atmosphere no longer.

"Mario, I know what you're thinking.  I know you still think it's your fault that I was almost killed, but it wasn't, okay?"

"You're only saying that to make me feel better.  But it _was _my fault!  I started the argument, and if you hadn't been mad at me you wouldn't have gone storming into the house."

They both fell silent, remembering the fight and feeling awkward.

Luigi sighed in exasperation.  "How can I explain to you?  How do I make you understand that it _wasn't your fault_!"

They stopped.  They had reached Toad's house.  Mario knocked at the door.

It opened a crack, and Toad peeked out.  "Oh, hello Mario, Luigi," he said.  He opened the door further.  "Would you like to come in?"

"We came to borrow some more things… is something wrong?" Mario wondered why Toad looked worried.

"You should come in," Toad replied and stood back to let them in.

He led Mario and Luigi to the kitchen.  A hunched figure was sitting at the table.

"Para-karry?" said Luigi.

The figure looked up.  It was Para-karry, and on his lap sat another para-koopa they hadn't seen before.  She was only young, and had a pink shell and wings, and wore a bow.

"Hi Mario, hi Luigi," said Para-karry.  The little koopaling on his lap watched them silently.

"This is my little sister, Parakette," he added.  The koopaling smiled at them shyly.

"I didn't know you had a sister," said Mario.

"She lives a fair way away," Para-karry explained.  "She came down to visit me a few days ago."

"What are you doing down here?" asked Mario.  He could tell something was amiss, but didn't want to ask outright.  Instead he tried subtle questions.  "I thought you usually did the late shift down at the post office?"

"I left early when I heard the news," replied the para-koopa.

"What news?"

"The dragon burned big brother's house," piped up Parakette.

"And I thought she was still in there," said Para-karry.  He hugged his little sister.  "So I left work.  All the way down there I was thinking that I'd never forgive myself if she had been in the house when it went up."

There was silence for a moment.  The assembly shifted uneasily.  Then Luigi spoke up.  "Well, thankfully she's safe.  You can stop worrying about her.  After all, even if she had still been in the house, it wasn't your fault that a supposedly extinct reptile decided to destroy it.  There was nothing in your power you could have done.  Instead of beating yourself up over it, just be happy that you had such a wonderful sister in the first place."  He looked sideways at Mario.

Para-karry smiled.  "Thanks, Luigi."  He grinned at his little sister and adjusted her bow.  "We've a had a pretty bad scare, but you're right, I should just be glad that we're okay and that Toad has given us somewhere to stay."  Parakette giggled happily.

Mario was looking at Luigi carefully, but his face remained impassive.

"Well, what was it that you needed, Mario?" asked Toad.  Mario snapped out of his curious reverie and looked down at Toad.

"We need to sneak into Bowser's castle.  We still have the Invisible Cap and the Wing Cap, but there are a few other things we need."

"What happened to the Metal Cap?" asked Toad.

Mario and Luigi explained the failed rescue mission and subsequent destruction of the Metal Cap.

"I don't believe it!" cried Toad.  "The Metal Cap was forged from the strongest metal available in the whole kingdom!"

"Which is why we need to find something stronger.  Without it we don't stand a chance against the dragon," said Luigi.

"Where do you propose we get this kind of material?" asked Toad.

"Wherever Bowser kept the dragon," said Mario.

A look of understanding crossed Toad's face.  "You mean Bowser… the dragon… Alright, when do we leave?"

"What do you mean, we?" said Mario.

"Oh, come on, you knew I'd have to come with you!"

Luigi laughed.  "Of course we did.  Metallurgy is your middle name."

~

High above Toad's house, a winged green shape flew onwards, completely oblivious to the fact that the people it was trying to follow were now behind it.

Yoshi panted from the effort it took to stay in the air.  Under any other circumstance he would have been enjoying himself, but the pain from his leg and the exhaustion were taking their toll on the dinosaur.  He veered off course as his vision clouded, but he caught himself in time and forced himself to stay alert.  It was a long way to the northern border yet.

~

"Alright, as far as I know, there's a warp pipe nearby that will take us about two-thirds of the way across the kingdom, but the rest of the way we'll have to fly."

Mario placed the Wing Cap on the table and continued.  "It'll take us too long to walk, but if we flew straight as the crow flies we could be there and back at least before midnight."

"The only problem," said Luigi, "is that the Wing Cap can only be used by one person.  And you can't go on your own."

"Well, I have this," said Toad.  He got up from the table and disappeared into another room.  He returned after a few minutes, carrying something yellow.  He placed it in the middle of the table.

"It's a magic cape," he said.  "It used to belong to the Yoshies."

"I remember this," said Mario.  "They gave it to me a long time ago…" He unfolded the cape and regarded the yellow material fondly.  "It was a present from Yoshi when I first met him."

Luigi stuck a roadblock in front of Mario's trip down memory lane.  "One of us can use the cape, then."  He looked at Mario.  "You can use it, seeing as it's special to you."

"It sure is," replied Mario.  He folded it back up.  "And you've looked after it so well, Toad.  I knew it was a good idea letting you be the keeper of valuable items for Peach… I mean, the Princess." Mario hoped nobody thought him over-familiar with Peach…

But nobody seemed to have noticed.  "Well, if Mario is going to be using the cape, and Luigi the Wing Cap, how am I going to get there?" asked Toad.

"I'll take you," said Para-karry.  Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him.  Until now he and his sister had been quiet, so quiet that they had almost forgotten about them.  "I've carried mail bags that are far heavier than Toad.  I'll carry him."

"Well, I suppose," said Luigi, "but what about Parakette?  Who'll be here to look after her?"

"I'm coming with Para-karry!" said Parakette.

"Oh no you aren't!" cried Para-karry.  "You almost got hurt today, I'm not letting you get into more danger!"

"I won't get hurt!" replied Parakette indignantly.  "I swear, I'll be good and not wander off, and you won't even know I'm there!  Just let me come with you!"

"What would mum and dad say if they knew I took you on a dangerous mission right after you nearly died in a fire?  You aren't coming!" Para-karry argued.

"Please, big brother?" she begged, but not in the persistent way of most children when they want something.  She spoke quietly, turning her face up to look Para-karry in the eye.  "Please, Para-karry?" she pleaded.  A tear ran down her cheek, a look of fear upon her face.  "I'm scared to be by myself…"

Para-karry sighed.  All his arguments broke down at the sight of Parakette's frightened little eyes, staring unblinkingly at him.  "Alright," he sighed.  "You can come with us.  But you have to promise to stay right by my side the whole time."

"Of course I will," replied Parakette, sounding relieved.  She hugged her brother.

"Well, I guess that's settled," said Luigi.  "Toad, do you have all you need?"

"Probably," he replied.

"Well, let's find that pipe," said Mario.  He went to the door and opened it, carrying the cape.  Luigi picked up the Invisible Cap and the Wing Cap from the table.

The two caps were both very different.  The Invisible Cap was translucent and blue, with the letter "I" on the front.  And of course, wearing it made the wearer invisible.  But the Wing Cap had more personality.  Most of the time, it was red, with white wings sticking out, and no initial.  But once it was in someone's hands, it changed appearance to match their personality.  It was one of many intrinsically magical items found in the Mushroom Kingdom and the lands beyond.

Luigi put the Invisible Cap in his pocket.  The Wing Cap in his hands had changed green with the letter "L" on it, just like his regular cap.  He strode out of Toad's house and caught up with Mario.  They both stopped on the street corner to wait for the others, who were still at the house, getting some things together.

"Luigi…" began Mario.  Luigi faced him, and shivered in the cold night wind.  He still didn't have a shirt, as all his spares had been destroyed in the fire.

"About what you said in there… to Para-karry?"

"You mean about how it wasn't his fault that the house was destroyed and that he should be glad that his sister was okay, rather than tearing himself up over it?"

"Yeah, that…  Were you trying to tell me something?"

"Was I?" said Luigi, enigmatically.  "That's for you to decide."

Mario opened his mouth to reply, but Toad, Para-karry and Parakette caught up to them and Luigi began to walk away.

"Luigi, give me a straight answer!" cried Mario, running to catch up.

"Mario, if what I said meant something to you, then yes, I was trying to tell you something."

They walked in silence for a moment, then Mario broke into a grin.  "Damn, Luigi, I don't know how you do it.  You just always know how to make me feel better."

Luigi grinned too.  "And _you_ always manage to sound corny.  I don't know how you do it!"

Mario muttered to himself and made a hand signal.  Luigi laughed at him, and got another jokey slap over the back of his head.

The atmosphere was lightened for all of them, and Mario, Luigi, Toad, Para-karry and Parakette walked on through the dark town, until Mario stopped them.

"Here's the pipe," he explained, motioning towards a large, green warp pipe on the corner of two streets.  "I'll go first."  He jumped onto the edge of it, and turned to the others.  "Give me a few seconds, then come in after me.  Once we're all at the other end, it's a fair flight to the dragon's keep, so pace yourselves."  With that he jumped into the pipe and disappeared.

They waited a few seconds, and then Luigi nodded to Para-karry and Parakette.  "You two can go now."  The two para-koopas flapped into the pipe.

"I'll go last," Luigi told Toad, who nodded and jumped in.  Luigi gave him a few seconds, then jumped in himself.

He fell for a second or two, then there was a bright flash of light and suddenly he was flying upwards.  He flew out of the pipe and landed on a footpath, next to Mario, Para-karry, Parakette and Toad.

"Okay, are we all ready?" asked Mario.  There was a chorus of affirmation.  "Okay, just let Luigi and I climb something tall and we can leave."

"Over here, Mario," called Luigi, motioning towards an old building with a climbable-looking drainpipe attached to the wall.  Mario joined him and they climbed it, while Toad scrambled onto Para-karry's back and sat on his shell.  He and Parakette flapped up to the roof where Mario and Luigi were waiting.

Mario unfolded the cape and fastened it around his neck.  Luigi took off his hat and stuffed it into his pocket, replacing it with the Wing Cap.

Wind blew over the roof, ruffling feathers, billowing Mario's cape and making Luigi shiver.  "Let's-a go!" cried Mario, quoting one of his favourite signature lines.  He took a run-up and leapt off of the dilapidated building.  Immediately the wind caught his cape and it magically sent him soaring.  He dipped into a short dive to get up speed, and then ascended rapidly.  "Yippee!" he said, another of his favourite lines, as the wind rushed across his face.

Once again Luigi waited until last.  Para-karry snapped on his flying goggles, then when he, Toad and Parakette were out of the way Luigi took a run up.  He jumped twice, then did a forward flip into the air, and the Wing Cap's wings caught the wind and propelled him upwards.  Luigi stuck out his arms to steer, then like Mario dipped downwards before ascending.

"Here we go!" he cried.  It was both his and Mario's saying.  And it managed to convey the feelings of all five of them, as the disparate group took to the sky.  There was something about night air that made it better than that of the day.  As they rushed through it, each of the group's inhibitions and individual problems were stripped away and they felt nothing but the joy of being alive.  The air felt smooth and silky, almost like they were swimming in water.  Mario and Luigi, tired and fatigued from the rigors of the day, felt their energy renewed as adrenaline coursed through them.  It was all they could do to stop themselves doing aerobatics and fly sensibly.  But they didn't think Parakette would be able to keep up, so they controlled themselves and saved their energy for the time when they knew they would need it.

After what seemed like no time at all, the towns became sparse and then disappeared altogether, replaced with cultivated land, which in turn gave way to dark plains.  They weren't so much rolling as lurking plains.  The stark, desolate and above all brown land was so featureless that you would notice it for its unnoticeableness.  

But in case you weren't sure, there was always the fact that the full moon had disappeared completely, despite the fact there were no clouds in the sky.

"We've reached the northern border!" called Mario to the others.  He shivered.  The lands beyond the border were uncannily cold.  But although he didn't want to admit it, Mario was also shivering out of fear.  The northern border was a creepy place, and the fact that they were searching for something even more dangerous was not a comforting thought.

Ahead lay a dark shape.  As they flew closer it became more refined and visible as two shapes.  One was the ruined castle.  The other, Bowser's flying island.  The tethered landmass swayed a little in the wind.

Luigi called out to Mario, and motioned at the ground.  Mario understood and nodded to him.  "Let's land now, everyone!  But stay quiet."

Softly, the small crowd touched down.  Toad dismounted.  Mario and Luigi decided to retain their flight trappings, just in case.

"Why are we stopping down here?" asked Para-karry quietly.  "Why didn't we just fly a bit further and land on Bowser's island?"

"We're less noticeable on the ground, and we don't stand a chance against that dragon in the air," Mario explained.

"Let's go," said Luigi, and silently the group crept past the castle, using the cover of its shadows, up to the base of Bowser's island.  The giant anchor was embedded deeply into the dusty ground.  The chain stretched upwards, going into the shadow of the island, beyond the scope of vision.

"How do we get into the castle?" asked Toad.  "Do we fly up there?"

"No," replied Luigi.  "There'll be guards around the castle.  There's a better way."  He grinned smugly at Mario's blank expression.  Their plan hadn't actually extended this far into the operation.  

Luigi turned, and grabbed the giant chain.  He pulled himself up and stood on one of the links.  "What are you waiting for?"

Mario leapt at the chain and began climbing up after his brother.  Toad looked up at the huge links; Luigi was already high enough to be blotted out by the great, dark silhouette of the island.

"I don't think I can climb that," he said.  Para-karry responded by picking him up and placing him on his shell.  

"That won't be a problem," he said.  He and Parakette took off after the Mario Brothers.

~

As the ill-assorted creatures, humans, and part-humans progressed steadily up the chain towards Bowser's flying island, they were unaware that someone else looked upon their destination.

Yoshi flew erratically, making ragged, uneven flaps with his magically induced wings.  He fluttered in exhausted zigzags, so tired that his eyelids drooped and every laborious flap took nearly all the strength he had, but his determination forced him onward.

Yoshi could feel himself on the verge of passing out.  Every muscle burned in agony; he knew that if he stopped he wouldn't be able to move again.  The overwork and blood-loss of that day had already taken a huge toll on the young dinosaur, and now he wanted more than anything to at least be able to hang out his tongue and pant, but doing so would lose him his koopa shell and he would fall to his death.  So his lungs continued to feel like they were about to explode.

Yoshi sought with the rest of his strength for more altitude.  Slowly and unsteadily he rose, until he was at the lip of Bowser's flying island.  Immeasurably gratified, he touched down on the edge of the grass.  But as he spat out the shell and sank to the ground for a rest, his feet slipped.  For a moment he scrabbled for purchase, but there was nothing for his feet to catch against and he fell from the island.

Yoshi screamed and managed to grasp the edge of the island in his paws.  There he hung, but his shoulder muscles ached from the flying.  

Flying!  His wings!

But they were gone… the shell up on the island where he left it.

Yoshi whimpered in terror as his grip began to slip…

~

Luigi reached the top of the chain, and stuck his head inside the hole it came from.  He could see nothing in the dark room the hole led to, but there was no time to get used to the darkness.  Mario shoved him, and Luigi half climbed, half fell into the room.

His brother followed, then Parakette and Para-karry with Toad landed next to them.

"What is this place?" asked Parakette softly.

"It's the room with the giant winch for the chain," Luigi told her, squinting around in the darkness.

"How can you tell?" said Para-karry.  "I can't see a thing!"

"Wait for your eyes to adjust," said Mario.

"Or, how about you don't," interrupted Luigi.

"What?"

"There are some things in here that instead of looking at, you would most likely rather run from."

"Luigi, make some sense…" said Mario, but then his voice trailed off.

From the darkness came a low growl.  Like a horrible dream, or a horror movie come true, two glowing pinpoints of red light blinked into existence.  Many more followed them, as well as some yellow ones, and really big white ones.  The big white ones were accompanied by matching sets of sharp white teeth.

_"GHRRRR…" _went something.

Jaws dropped.  Eyes popped.  Five identical screams of terror rose out of that room, as five figures turned and ran for their lives.  Their eyes had adjusted so that in the gloom they could just make out what looked like an exit.

There came heavy, slow, ponderous pounding footsteps as the _things _gave chase.

"What are they?!" cried Parakette.

"Whomps," said Mario.

"Thwomps," said Toad.

"And Chomps," added Luigi.

"Oh my," finished Para-karry lamely as they continued their mad dash for safety.  They ran through a stone corridor, Luigi leading the way and Mario bringing up the rear.  Suddenly Luigi stopped, and the others cannoned into him.

"What's wrong?" said Mario.

"Dead end!" cried Luigi, terror flashing in his eyes.

As one, the group turned to face the huge stampede.  It sounded more like a rockslide.  

The heavy pounding of the footsteps shook the ground like an earthquake, as certain death came nearer and nearer…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Finished: 5/11/02

Cliffhanger!  CLIFFHANGER!  **CLIFFHANGER!!!**

I had to finish dramatically.  I mean it took long enough, so I thought I should give you something worth waiting for.  I apologise, this was meant to be the chapter where Herman's species was revealed, among other things, such as another fight between Mario and the dragon, and stuff.  But last chapter I said this stuff would fit better into two chapters, and this one got so long… Around page nine of it I decided it fits better into three.  

This story currently is tied with one of my first ones for the record of longest story written—but that's only going by chapters.  By sheer amount of words it's most definitely my longest.  Wow.

On a completely unrelated topic—TODAY'S MY 15TH BIRTHDAY!  YAAAAAAAY!  I got money from my parents, and tomorrow I'm going shopping with mum to get a new GameBoy Advance game.  Whoo!  Okay, I'll shut up now… but only if you review!  Bye!


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